Babysitting, Bianca, and Being Broken
by rainediamond
Summary: Alternate title: Uncle Nico. A Nico-centric fic about the first time he discovered his niece's shape-shifting powers and some sad contemplation. Family theme. Companion to Through the Years.


In the decade following the Giant War, Hazel ended up as a centurion at Camp Jupiter, and she was happy to serve the Legion alongside Frank. Frank and Reyna acted as praetors together for a few more years before Reyna stepped down and Hazel became praetor in her place when Reyna began college. When she and Frank had earned their ten stripes, they too stepped down and settled down.

When Hazel was twenty-three, she and Frank got married after being together for ten years. A year later, their son, Samuel Zhang was born. Sammy looked a lot like Frank, with keen black eyes and his nose. But, unlike his father, Sammy had cinnamon colored hair, even if it was straight like Frank's.

Throughout his childhood, Sammy had fond memories of Uncle Nico visiting and babysitting from time to time. The son of Hades had an unexpected soft spot for kids, and when Hazel was busy, Nico tried to help Sammy with his geokinetic powers. While Nico couldn't summon precious metals, he could still manipulate the rocks beneath them, and the pair would semi-frequently get in trouble with Hazel for messing up the backyard. Eventually she sent them to play outside of New Rome when Sammy accidentally caused a landslide.

Sammy first met Percy and Annabeth's kids when the family visited New Rome. At the time, Sammy was four and the Jackson kids were eight, five, and three. Sammy instantly loved playing with their middle child and only son, Caspian (Cas). The two boys grew very close in the two weeks they were together. Cas had Annabeth's knack for architecture, and, when combined with Sammy's earth powers, they made some pretty epic and complex forts.

Even after Caspian went back to New York, the little boys kept in contact, and Annabeth and Hazel orchestrated play dates whenever possible. This often entailed transport via Mrs. O'Leary or Uncle Nico since Hazel couldn't shadowtravel cross-country without passing out.

Shortly after the Jacksons left, Hazel gave birth to a little girl who was named Emily Marie after her and Frank's mothers. Em, as she was called for short, was beautiful like her mother with roasted-coffee skin and mocha colored eyes that were somewhere in between her parents', and she had Frank's powers. This led to some startling moments when they first figured out what Em could do.

The first time Nico remembered learning about his niece's powers, he was babysitting Em while Hazel and Frank took Sammy to kindergarten for the first day. He wasn't expecting much, having watched the kids before, but in the middle of studying for his medical exam, he looked over at the playpen when Em started giggling, only to have a heart-attack when he saw the little cat ears and a fluffy tail. (A/N: based on a picture I don't own. Google 'Uncle Nico di Angelo', I think it's by Boa/ Monkeyscandance.)

In a panic, he grabbed the giggling baby and verified the ears and tail were, in fact, attached, and called Hazel. What if the gods were pulling a prank? What if someone put a curse on Em? A million scenarios ran through his head as the phone rang. Hazel answered the phone with a simple, "Hello?"

"Hazel! Hazel, my niece just grew a tail!" He was frantic, completely forgetting to not panic.

"Oh, again?"

"What should I... wait, again!?"

Hazel actually started giggling. "Nico, relax. Em started doing that recently. It's perfectly normal considering Frank's family gift." Nico could hear some laughter in the background, and he figured Frank had understood what just happened.

"So it's not that someone is pulling a prank, or cursed her?" he verified.

"Correct. She's perfectly fine, she started to partially transform about a months ago, but usually it's not that often."

Nico sighed, feeling like he could breathe again. "Okay. I get it. Take care, and tell Sammy I said hello." Nico couldn't believe his stupidity. He knew about Frank's abilities, he had for years, but something about seeing this little girl who looked almost like Hazel's clone grow a tail, it just didn't compute in his brain.

"Alright, I love you," she replied.

"Yeah. I love you too, Sis."

Nico put the phone down and tucked his notes into the textbook. "You, Missy, almost gave me a heart attack," he admonished half-heartedly.

Em just laughed in his face and pulled at his hair.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I need a haircut," he grumbled as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "You must be hungry by now," he added after a quick glance at the clock.

Nico held Em on his hip with one arm while the other dug through the pantry to find the banana mush Hazel told him to give her. When he turned around, he almost freaked out again, because now Em had big mouse ears and a fluffy squirrel's tail. "What animal is that?" he asked as though Em could respond in anything but babbling, gurgling noises.

Sighing in resignation, he put the little girl in her highchair, being sure to tuck in her orange dress. He turned away to grab a spoon for the baby food, but his attention snapped back a moment later when he heard a thud. With his heart was in his throat he found Em had a pair of white wings just like the ones of the dove on her bedroom wall. Besides that, she was flapping them experimentally, and beginning to make the highchair lift up and drop back down.

Not wasting a moment, Nico ran over and firmly held down the highchair. "How are you even doing that! Those wings aren't long enough to lift you, let alone the highchair!" Maybe it was Hazel's magic in combination with Frank's gift that made it possible, but right now, Nico was too worried about making her stop.

Nico dragged the high chair over to the kitchen counter, and without ever lifting his other hand off the highchair, he began feeding the troublesome ten-month-old. Eventually, Em calmed down and her wings disappeared, leaving her normal, chubby little hands. Nico let out a relieved sigh when she began grabbing at the spoon, trying to feed herself. "Good girl," he told her as he patted her silky brown curls.

Em laughed at him again, one grubby hand grabbing his nose while the other painted with banana mush. "I see," Nico said in a nasal voice, "you're going to be an artist like your mommy."

Em stared at him for a moment. She stared straight into his dark brown eyes with unnerving understanding, she gave him a look that made his knees weak. "Bianca?" it came out as a broken whisper.

The next moment, the look was gone, and Em was back to giggling and pulling his nose.

Nico never really understood the look, but something about it both warmed him, and scared him out of his wits. After that, Nico watched her carefully, unsure if he hoped for another piercing gaze or not.

Hazel and Frank returned home about two hours later, and Em was down for a nap.

"Nico, we're home," Hazel called.

"Shh!" he warned with a finger to his lips.

Hazel gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

"Where's Sammy?" Nico whispered when he tip-toed closer to his sister.

Hazel unwrapped the blue scarf from around her neck and kicked off her shoes. "He's over at Percy and Annabeth's having a sleepover with Caspian. They used Mrs. O'Leary to pick him up."

"Ah, I guess that means I'll see him tomorrow since I'm having lunch with Percy. I could probably bring him back when I'm done," Nico suggested.

Frank gave him a grateful smile, "If you could, that'd be great."

Not too much later, Nico was headed home, back to his little apartment in New Rome, the same one he had stayed in when he was the Ambassador of Pluto.

Just before his head hit the pillow, his eyes went to the few photos decorating his nightstand.

First to the picture of everyone gathered together. Reyna, Rachel, he, the Seven, Calypso, the kids. His family, the people who loved him. The thought brought a smile to his lips, but it dropped as he eyes drifted to the picture of his old family.

It was an old sepia photo from when Nico was a small child; won from Hades after his success in the Giant War. He could see his mother, beautiful in a somber way, her dark eyes so much like Bianca's. He was sitting in his mother's lap, he couldn't have been more than four, and beside them stood Hades with his hands resting on Bianca's slender shoulders. The Bianca and Nico in the photo were grinning, not yet knowing the pain of life, still innocent and naive. Nico cracked a twisted grin, something he only did when he was alone these days since it freaked people out.

His face twisted, and he fought back tears he hadn't shed in a long time. "I still miss you, Bianca."

Something about the way Em had looked at him this evening had triggered something Nico kept hidden. The ache in his heart was still hardly bearable. Most of the time he could keep it together, but sometimes he still felt like he was falling apart.

He could almost hear Bianca scolding him, "Don't you dare cry over me, Nico. You have people who love you, don't worry about me." He laughed to himself, imagining her in her silver Hunter's jacket, her hands on her hips as she berated him.

Drawing a shaky breath, Nico pulled himself together. Heaving a sigh, Nico rolled over and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day, he would see Percy, hang out with Sammy, and probably stick around at Hazel's for dinner. He fell asleep, burying the part of his heart that never really healed as he focused on what he had, not what he lost.

His family had changed a lot in the years, but he didn't think he minded the one he had now. His family was his everything, and, after all, he loved being Uncle Nico.

A/N: Three more days until Blood of Olympus! Anyway, this was written as a companion fic for my Percabeth story, "Through the Years". I hope you enjoyed. Please review!


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